A young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops in a cave between the villages of Bilin and Kafr Nima in Northwest Ramallah on early Tuesday morning.

Large numbers of Israeli military vehicles had raided an agricultural
area in the early morning and subsequently clashed with Muhammad Assi, a
24-year-old Islamic Jihad activist, who had barricaded himself in a
cave amidst fields, Ma'an reported.

Assi was killed following a shoot-out with Israeli forces that lasted a few hours.

During the raid, Israeli bulldozers razed olive orchards belonging to
Palestinians in the area, according to eyewitnesses from Kafr Nima. The
soldiers also set fire to a number of agricultural fields.

The Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israeli
special forces entered in Kafr Nima in order to arrest two Palestinians
in the early hours of Tuesday morning. One of the suspects tried to flee
and was apprehended following a short chase, according to the Israeli
report, while the other barricaded himself in a cave and clashed with
the Israeli soldiers.

"The soldiers encircled him for hours and he was eventually shot dead," the Israeli newspaper reported.

Locals in Kafr Nima confirmed that Israeli forces stormed the village
and ransacked several homes before they detained three Palestinian men.
The three detained Palestinian men were identified as Hamad Ibrahim
Nasr, William Abu Aadi and Abdullah Suleiman Abu Aadi.

Young men from the village clashed with the invading Israeli forces,
pelting them with rocks and empty bottles during the raid.

Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets at the protestors and showered the area with tear gas canisters and stun grenades.

An Israeli army spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the
West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the
Israeli military since 1967.